Its definitely not our party

I was listening to a Francis Chan sermon recently on ‘the purpose of your life’ and he told a fantastic story of a girl who was taking one of his communications classes. She was teaching and was talking to him about how nervous she was and how she kept praying for God to show up, to show up when she was teaching and to be present in the room as she was talking but then it occurred to her that God was saying something to her, God was telling her that this is my party.....and I’ve invited you to show up.

Its such a great statement as so often we are asking God to show up and help us in the things that we are part of and God is like no, this has always been my party and just be glad that you are invited into it, I’m going to do what I’m going to do and I invited you to be a piece of that. It certainly allows for a different perspective, rather than assuming we have to ask God to appear we should take comfort in knowing that God is there and we need to adjust our thinking on how best to serve him as an invited guest.

New Hillsong United album is out, there is a great tune called Bones, not particularly bursting with doctrine yet a great reminder of the presence of Jesus in all we do. The bridge is fantastic.......take a listen here.

Breathe in me Your life, I can feel You are close now,

I can never hide, You are here and You know me
All I need is You, And I love You, I love You.

Breathe in me Your life, ‘Til Your love overtakes me,

Open up my eyes, Let me see You more clearly
Falling on my knees, ‘Til I love like You love, Like You love me, I love You.

Humanity and the grudge......Matthew 5:21+

Azure Ray – ‘Make your heart’, is a beautiful song (go here for a listen and possible free download)I don’t think that there is much that inspires me more than nice melodies over a good cavernous rhythm.....(the relevancy is that this was on in the background as I was trying to read Matthew 5:21+). I tried to read from verse 21 to the end of the chapter but got as far as verse 22. There is enough in these two verses of Jesus’ speaking to change the world forever, verse 23 will have to wait to tomorrow.

So this is what it says to me,

Don’t get even, don’t get angry but reconcile yourself to one another. That’s what has got to happen if you want to be reconciled to him, that can above all the others make it right and clean the slate, wiping off all the rubbish that we can shovel on but can’t scrape off.

I get angry with people all the time, I am going to go and pray that God can help me to show love to the people that I want to shout at. Maybe there will come a day when my thought process automatically produces thoughts of love when I think of those that may have frustrated or even wronged me, thinking like that could ceaselessly content my emotions – that would be better than sweet - and i take much comfort in the fact that through God all things are possible.

John Butler Trio - yet another band from the land down under.

Yet more australian music.......I had heard of the John Butler Trio in years gone bye (apparently that’s how you talk when you hit your late twenties), the song Betterman was popular and came out in the mid naughties. I happened to be in HMV when I was back home and noticed their new album, April Uprising, so I had to buy it, it's a great album and definitely worth a listen. It was interesting to read that one of the Amazon reviewers had stated that these guys where like the ‘Australian Dave Matthews Band’, I would have to say they definitely aren’t, but despite these falsities, the band have at least opened up for the DMB whilst the ‘kings’ of diversity were on tour and they do make exceedingly good music.

It is hard to classify the John Butler Trio into a particular musical genre, the Dobro isn’t that widely used in mainstream rock and pop, but throughout this album you can definitely hear a little bit celtic-folky-bluesy-rocky-pop going on. So if that sounds like it might intrigue you I would definitely give them a listen. It will be worth your while and I don’t think you will be disappointed, even less so if you buy the album as there is just short of 20 songs and the enclosed little booklet is pretty genius.

Its hard to identify stand out tracks however I love the beats and lyrics in ‘One way road’ and the laid back almost Chilli’s feel to ‘I’ll do anything’.

Check them out Here........

Matthew 4

Matthew 4.

‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.....Jesus was hungry.’

Temptation is going to happen to us all, we can be sure of that. The important thing is how we deal with what is placed in front of us. Matthew 4 gives us a wonderful picture of the humanity of Jesus in his hunger, yet allows us to notice His divine nature shining through with His oneness and obedience to the Spirit. Jesus was God, in human form, yet was in total submission to the will of the Holy Spirit which shows the sometimes difficult to comprehend Trinity working like clockwork.

Back to the matter at hand – If Jesus in His divine nature can be tempted by the devil how much should I be on guard from the powers that want to wreck havoc with my obedience to God. On paper being obedient before God doesn’t look unobtainable, be true to God and his commands through diligence to His word in the bible and keep a healthy prayer life. However this is easier said then done. Its not rocket science, the problem often lies with an inbuilt lack of commitment on our part.

Action for the day - pray more! Rely on my conversations with God. If I can attain this I know my quality of life both spiritually and as I engage with the culture that surrounds me will improve.

On a slight tangent...read verse 21, how do you think James and Johns dad would have reacted. I would have been raging, ‘Here da, we’re away, haul the net in yourself!’ this little incident does however create space for thinking about priorities in mission and building the kingdom, it's most likely that I would have stayed in the boat and finished the job at hand at least waiting till we hit the shore, but Jesus didn’t seem to want that of his new found disciples, he required immediate action.

Reading the bible

I must admit that I don’t get particularly motivated by using Bible study notes and often find it pretty difficult to encourage myself to do a daily devotional. I read the bible as part of my job, but actually taking some spiritual ‘time out’ for yourself can be overlooked as you find yourself filling up your day with lots of bits and pieces that aren’t that important.

When I was home over Christmas having dinner at a friends house I picked up a book he had been using to help him read the bible. It outlined a series of questions to ask yourself as you read the passage so I took a note of some of the questions and condensed them to five straightforward steps which I have been trying to apply as I work my way through the New Testament. Having studied different methods of exegesis and exposition during my few years at University I understand that some might be of the opinion that this is a rather unattractive or simplistic methodology – it probably is, but who cares if it works. I haven’t set myself a goal for reaching the 22nd chapter of Revelation but I am quite satisfied with the school of thought that the journey is every bit as important as the destination.

Here are the five steps:

• What words or sentences stand out to me as I read?
• What does this passage say to me about the character of God?
• What is God trying to say to me?
• How do I act in response to what God is saying to me?
• How will what God has said impact or change me?

I have got through 3 chapters of Matthew so far, ill try to keep it up and post what I learn?

Bettering my blogging in 2011

It has been ages since I have updated my blog so I have decided to be a little more consistent this year and post more regularly about things that excite and interest me - namely faith, food and music.